Hello friends! Please meet Hootie. Although we were never planning on giving him one, he has proven so adorable that we felt it only fitting that he receive a name!
Garden Decor from an Upcycled Cheese Grater
Not only did we create an adorable garden decoration from materials around the house, we used an upcycled cheese grater as the foundation. From there we added mason jar lids, bottle caps, tree branch leaves and copper wire. If you have leftover bottle caps from this project see our Bottle Cap Horse or Flower projects to add even more upcycling goodness into our gardens. It feels good upcycling!
Although this owl may look adorable, its edges are rather sharp – he was created using a cheese grater after all! Make sure he is placed out of reach from curious little hands in your garden or outdoor setting as his stainless steel will rust over time and add character.
How to Build a Cheese Grater Owl: Step Two – Assemble the Owl Eyes
To ensure accurate alignment when drilling holes for the eyes of an owl puppet, create a paper template of them before drilling the holes with screws.
Trace the largest mason jar lid onto paper and cut out its circle.
Position the paper over a cheese grater so its holes line up with those drilled, aligning their position on both pieces of paper.
Mark your desired position with a marker, and transfer the markings onto the lids.
Carefully drill holes through each marked location using a drill press.
Working one owl eye at a time, stack the lids from largest on the bottom to smallest on top, aligning their drilled holes as you do so.
Thread the screw through each of the holes and position it with its designated cheese grater hole.
Place the washer and bolt at the other end of the screw (on the inside of your cheese grater) in order to secure its lids in their proper positions.
Make a copy with both eyes.
Heat up a hot glue gun and attach the wooden nose piece of your cheese grater in the center just under your eyes with hot glue.
Thread your wire through two of the bottom holes of a cheese grater from within to wrap three times around a tree branch to create the illusion of an owl’s claws.
Install the Owl outdoors and take pleasure in watching Hootie keep an eye on your garden! Check out this helpful post for DIY and upcycld garden project ideas.